The Life of Saint Euphrosyne of Polotsk
Short Summary
Połack. A prince's daughter, beautiful and fond of books, was promised in marriage at the age of twelve, but decided that worldly fame was dust and secretly entered a convent, where she was tonsured as Euphrosyne.
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Her grieving father could not turn her back. She lived in a cell by the cathedral, copied books and gave the money to the poor. After an angel's vision, the bishop granted her the church of the Holy Saviour at Sialco, where she founded a convent. Her sister and her cousin joined her as nuns, again angering their fathers.
She built a stone church in thirty weeks, aided by miracles, then a second church and a monastery for monks, and obtained a famous icon of the Mother of God from the emperor. She taught her nuns humility and prayer, reconciled quarrelling men, and made her sister head of both houses.
With her brother David and her cousin Eupraxia she travelled to Jerusalem, where she prayed at Christ's tomb:
O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God who was born of the ever-Virgin Mary for our salvation! You said: 'Ask, and it will be given to you.' I, a sinner, have received from you everything...
She fell ill, an angel announced her coming death, and after twenty-four days she received communion and died in Jerusalem, praised as the light of Połack.
Detailed Summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
Introduction: praise of the righteous and an invitation to the spiritual banquet
The account opened with a blessing and praise of God, recalling that the righteous live on after death and receive their crown from the Lord. The narrator called upon all people—hermits, elders, the young, princes, noblemen, churchmen and simple folk alike—to gather and listen to a spiritual feast prepared for them.
Come all of you: I would offer you a banquet, so that you in eating it may rejoice in your hearts. For this banquet consists not of perishable delicacies which delight your palate...
Birth and childhood of Princess Pradsłava
In the city of Połack there lived a prince named Usiasłaū, who had many sons. One of them, George, became the father of the future saint. The household rejoiced at her birth, and she was baptised in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Nourished by a nurse, she grew strong in body while her soul filled with grace, and she became known for her wisdom, learning and remarkable beauty.
Pradsłava rejects marriage and becomes the nun Euphrosyne
Many princes sought the maiden's hand for their sons, but her father answered every envoy that it would be according to God's will. When she turned twelve, her father resolved to give her in marriage. Hearing this, Pradsłava withdrew into deep reflection, weighing the fleeting glory of earthly rulers against the eternal reward of those who followed Christ.
Their life passed away, their fame was consumed like dust, being more flimsy than a spider's web. But ... there were women who, filled with manly courage, followed in the footsteps of Christ...
Convinced that monastic life would bring her closer to God, she secretly left her parents' house and went to a convent ruled by the widow of Prince Raman, who had become a nun. Frightened by the girl's youth and beauty, the abbess hesitated for a long time, fearing the wrath of her father, and questioned whether she could truly endure the hardships of monastic discipline.
The maiden answered with conviction that earthly pleasures fade like dreams while heavenly things endure forever, urging the abbess to fear God rather than her father's anger.
All visible things of this world are beautiful and pleasing, but they soon vanish like a dream, and wither away like flowers. On the other hand, the eternal and invisible things endure forever...
Moved by her wisdom, the abbess consented. A priest cut her hair, gave her the name Euphrosyne, and dressed her in black robes, urging her to follow the example of holy women who suffered for Christ.
When her father learned what had happened, he came to the convent in anguish, tearing his hair and weeping over the loss of the future he had imagined for her.
Woe is me, my child! Why did you do it to me, bringing sadness to my soul? Why did you not disclose your thoughts to me? I suffer cruelly, my sweet child, sadness of my heart.
Despite her father's sorrow, Euphrosyne remained steadfast, surpassing the other sisters in fasting, prayer and vigil, gathering good thoughts in her heart like a bee gathering honey.
Ascetic life in the cathedral cell and the angel's command to settle at Sialco
After some time in the convent, Euphrosyne asked the bishop of the Holy Wisdom cathedral in Połack for permission to live in a small basement cell within the church, copying books by hand and giving the proceeds to the poor.
One night, after long vigil, she received a vision: an angel led her to the small church of the Holy Saviour at a place called Sialco and told her that it was there she must dwell. The vision repeated itself several times. The same night the bishop also received a message from the angel, instructing him to establish Euphrosyne at that holy place.
Troubled and amazed, the bishop went to see her, blessed her, and after discoursing on the salvation of the soul, granted her the church of the Holy Saviour at Sialco, where earlier bishops lay buried, so that through her labours it might become a great place of prayer.
Founding the community at Sialco: Eudoxia and Eupraxia join Euphrosyne
The bishop summoned Euphrosyne's uncle Prince Barys, her father, and other nobles as witnesses to his gift of Sialco, declaring that no one should revoke it after his death. All present bowed and agreed, recognizing the hand of God in the matter.
That same night, taking only one nun with her, Euphrosyne journeyed to Sialco and entered the church, declaring that she brought nothing with her but prayer, a few books, and three loaves of bread.
Following your commandment I came to this place bringing nothing with me, except your word which I keep within me and which I constantly repeat: 'Lord, have mercy.'
She then sent for her younger sister Hardzisłava to be taught reading and writing, but secretly had her tonsured a nun under the name Eudoxia. When her father discovered this, he came in grief and anger, yet was again gently comforted by Euphrosyne, and Eudoxia remained in the convent under her sister's guidance.
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Later, Prince Barys's daughter, Źvienislava, arrived at the convent bringing her gold ornaments and fine garments to offer to the church, asking to be tonsured as well. She was given the name Eupraxia, and the two young nuns lived together with Euphrosyne in shared devotion.
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The building of the stone church of the Holy Saviour and its miracles
Euphrosyne undertook the building of a stone church of the Holy Saviour, which was completed within thirty weeks. A master builder named John received repeated visions urging him to begin the work at daybreak in honour of the Saviour.
When he asked Euphrosyne whether she had summoned him, she admitted she had not, but told him to obey whoever had prompted the vision. Later, when the bricks ran out before the church's top could be finished, Euphrosyne prayed earnestly, and by God's providence the kiln was found miraculously full the next morning, allowing the church to be completed and crowned with a cross amid great rejoicing among princes, monks, nuns and common folk.
Overjoyed, Euphrosyne prostrated herself in prayer, dedicating the temple and its people to God's protection, then gathered the sisters and taught them with maternal tenderness about humility, prayer and fasting.
I have gathered you, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, or as sheep are gathered into one fold: may you graze on the pasture of God's commandments...
The church of the Holy Mother of God and the bringing of the Odigitria icon
Euphrosyne then built a second stone church, dedicated to the Holy Mother of God, and gave it to a community of monks, forming a large and prosperous monastery. Wishing further to adorn it, she sent her servant Michael with gifts to the Byzantine Emperor Manuel and Patriarch Luke, requesting the famous Odigitria icon painted by the evangelist Luke and kept in Ephesus.
Moved by her devotion, the Emperor sent one hundred armed men to bring the icon to Constantinople, where the Patriarch blessed it before a synod of bishops and gave it to Euphrosyne's servant. She placed the icon in the new church with great joy, adorned it with gold and precious stones, and ordered it carried in procession through the churches every Tuesday.
Euphrosyne's teaching of the nuns and her spiritual gifts
Euphrosyne continued instructing her nuns in patience, purity, humility, quiet speech and mutual respect, teaching them to think much and speak little. She possessed a gift of counsel, so that whoever sought her advice found it always to be right, and she longed for peace among all people, whether princes, noblemen or servants.
Preparations for the pilgrimage: the tonsure of her nieces and farewell to Połack
Having established both monasteries securely, Euphrosyne resolved to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, to venerate the Holy Sepulchre and end her life there. Her brothers came to her in sorrow, begging her not to leave them orphaned, among them her favourite brother, Viečasłaū, who pleaded with her alongside his wife and children.
Euphrosyne asked that his daughters, Kyrianna and Olga, be placed in the care of her sister Eudoxia. Despite the parents' distress, she had the girls tonsured by Bishop Dionysus, who gave them the names Agatha and Euphemia.
Euphrosyne entrusted both monasteries to her sister Eudoxia and set off for Jerusalem accompanied by her brother David and her cousin Eupraxia, while monks, nuns and townspeople of Połack wept and bade her a sorrowful farewell.
The journey to Jerusalem and veneration of the Holy Sepulchre
Though she had never before travelled beyond her homeland, Euphrosyne journeyed with courage through many foreign lands, received everywhere with honour, including by the Emperor on his way to war with the Hungarians, who escorted her party toward Constantinople.
In Constantinople she worshipped at the great church of the Holy Wisdom and received the Patriarch's blessing before continuing on to Jerusalem. There she obtained permission to enter the Holy City, prostrated herself before Christ's tomb, and for three days returned to kiss and incense it, finally leaving rich gifts and her golden censer upon the sepulchre.
Illness, last prayers and death in Jerusalem
Settling at the Ruthenian monastery of the Holy Mother of God, Euphrosyne prayed at the tomb to be allowed to die in Jerusalem and join the company of the patriarch Abraham. Soon afterward she fell gravely ill and could not accompany her companions to the river Jordan, though she rejoiced when they returned with water from it; she drank the water and poured it over her body.
An angel appeared to her, declaring that the gates of heaven stood open and that her prayer had been granted. She then sought burial among the holy women at the monastery of the Holy Mother of God, since the monks of Saint Sabba's Laura did not accept women. After twenty-four days, sensing her end near, she called for the priest, received Holy Communion, made three prostrations, and gave her soul to God on the twenty-fourth day of May.
Eulogy for the blessed Euphrosyne, light of the land of Połack
The narrator closed with praise for Euphrosyne as defender of the oppressed, comforter of the sorrowing, clothier of the naked and counsellor to all, calling her city, her parents, her birth and her monasteries all blessed.
Euphrosyne — the unwithering flower from the heavenly garden; Euphrosyne — the high-flying eagle that flew from west to east, the light illuminating the land of Połack.